CASE STUDY ON OIL SPILLS

IN INDIA
Name: Pranay
Class: X
Subject: EA
School: Future Kids School
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher Anji Reddy

sir as well as our principal Saritha mam who gave me the golden opportunity
to do this wonderful project on the topic “Oil Spills”, which also helped me in
doing a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new things I am
really thankful to them.
Secondly I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot
in finalizing this project within the limited time frame.
CONTENTS

• Introduction
• What is an Oil Spill
• Damages caused by Oil Spills
• Some Oil Spills In India
• Ennore Oil Spill
• Mumbai Urban Pipeline Oil leak
• Mumbai oil spill/ MV MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia 3
INTRODUCTION

Oil leaks or oil spill is considered among the worst ecological disasters. The most
transported commodity in the world is oil and because of its chemical nature, it is
transported through the medium of the sea. These type of spills occurs when there
is a collision of vessels carrying oil cargo. Oil spills not only pollute the sea but
the whole environment. It is a nation and international concern regarding the
marine pollution because when the spill occurs it is not a short-term pollution it is
a long-term pollution. The spills last for decades and it cannot be cured until and
unless the appropriate measures are taken to prevent, control and remove the risk.
WHAT IS AN OIL SPILL ?

In the basic terms, it refers to when the oil is released into the sea or oceans or
coastal areas due to the collision of two vessels carrying oil cargo. It has a direct
effect on marine ecosystem just because of the inhuman activity and it is also a
kind of pollution. It is the release of liquid petroleum hydrocarbon. Oil spills have
effects on society economically, environmentally and socially. The quantities in
which the spills have taken place is between several thousand tons to several lakh
tons. Oil spills result in the damage of the beaches, marshlands, marine mammals,
fish, and birds. Spills may take from days to years of cleaning.
DAMAGES TO THE ENVIRONMENT DUE TO
OIL SPILLS
An oil slick is the floating of oil over the water after the oil spill and when an oil
slick reaches the beach the oil grasp to every rock and grain of sand present there at the
beach. If the oil spill reaches to the forest or other wetlands the grasses there absorbs
the oil which can damage the plant and make the whole place an unsuitable habitat.
When the oil stops floating on the surface and sinks into the water it has the same
effect to the marine ecosystem which leads to the killing of the fishes inside the water
and thus resulting in the breaking of the food chain from which the world is connected.
 According to the reports, despite the efforts of cleaning up after the Exxon Valdez
oil spill in 1989 a study of 2007 conducted by the National Oceanic and
atmospheric administration(NOAA) found that 26000 gallons of oil from the Exxon
Valdez oil spill was still found in the sand along the Alaska shoreline that is why it is
regarded as the most dangerous environmental disaster which cannot be removed
even after years. The scientists also revealed that the oil was declining less than 4
percent rate annually.
Oil spills kill marine mammals
Whenever the oil stops floating and gets started to sink into the marine ecosystem
it causes a problem for the dolphins and whales as the oil reaches down there it
creates a problem for the animals to breathe. Even when the marine mammals sense
danger during the time of oil spill and leaves the place makes them safe but it causes
a problem of food as their whole habitat is dependent on the marine fishes which are
exposed to the oil spills which may be poisoned by the oil.
• Oil spills kill fish
The oil spills cause a big danger to the marine fishes which causes their death as they
are exposed to a large quantity of oil spill.
• Wildlife habitat and breeding grounds – Oil spill
It has long-term effects on every kind of environment not only the marine environment.
The oil spills destroy the natural habitat of the seaside animals like sea turtles who spend
most of their time in the sea but comes ashore to nest. Sea turtles can be exposed to the oil
spill as they stay ashore for the nest and when the oil floats over to beaches it destroys the
eggs which cause a problem in their development.
The danger the oil spill has varied due to different factors including the amount of oil
spilled, the time, the location, the type and weight of oil spill but at the end, every oil spill
is a danger to the environment.
SOME OIL SPILLS IN INDIA
ENNORE OIL SPILL

The 2017 Ennore oil spill was an oil spill that occurred outside the Kamarajar

Port in Ennore near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. The spill occurred on 28 January
2017 when an outbound empty tanker BW Maple collided with an inbound loaded oil
tanker Dawn Kanchipuram at 04:00 local time. It was unexpected.
The collision occurred two nautical miles off Kamarajar Port in Ennore, a natural
harbour about 20 km north of Chennai on the Coromandel Coast. The Ennore
Creek (swampy backwater traversing over 13 km between Pulicat Lake in the north
and Kosasthalaiyar River in the south and emptying into the Bay of Bengal) separates
the town of Ennore from the Government held public company Kamarajar Port.
 The two ships collided at 4 am on 27 January 2017. In the morning, the Kamarajar port authority released a
press statement that there is no damage to the environment and no casualty or injury to persons. It also indicated
that both vessels are safely anchored and the extents of damage to the vessels are under assessment.By
afternoon, oil spill sheen was visible with dead turtles being washed ashore and residents of nearby coastal
areas reporting a strong smell of oil.The Indian Coast Guard confirmed they were assessing the situation and
providing assistance required. The Coast Guard also said that the spill would be contained in less than 24 hours.
Investigation into the cause of the collision began on 29 January 2017.On 30 January 2017, the Kamarajar
Port released a note claiming that there is no major damage to the environment or injury to persons and some
sheens of oil traces were observed. It also stated that oil booms was deployed as a precautionary measure
around the vessel Dawn Kanchipuram to contain seepage if any. The ship was subsequently brought into the
port and berthed it after its cargo was discharged and vehicle inspections for damage assessment did not yield
any evidence of an oil spill barring 'some sheens of oil traces', the press note said. The fishing community
claimed that hundreds of fish had died and that they were unable to go for fishing because the spillage had come
up to the shore.
MUMBAI URBAN PIPELINE OIL LEAK

A leak from an ONGC pipeline caused a mile-long oil spill off the Mumbai coast on Friday morning. The spill, 80
km off the coast, has been brought under control. It is likely to be dispersed within 48 hours, the State-owned Oil and
Natural Gas Corporation said.
According to an ONGC statement here, the leak was detected in the Mumbai-Uran Trunk (MUT) pipeline at 8.45
a.m. The pipeline transports crude oil from the Mumbai High offshore fields. Production from the ONGC's Mumbai
High field, the nation's biggest oilfield, and Bassein oilfield, was stopped immediately and the pipeline shut down.
Output has since resumed and crude oil from the field is being transported ashore through a separate line.
Mumbai High and Bassein fields together produce 247,000 barrels of oil per day and the brief stoppage would
mean that they would produce about 25,000 barrels less oil. The ONGC has reacted immediately to control the spill,
Petroleum Secretary S. Sundareshan said.
The corporation said the leakage was observed two km from the BPB Platform (Bassein oil and gas field). Oil and
gas production is being diverted to the ICP-Heera Uran Trunk (HUT) pipeline.
 Vessels were sent to the site to ascertain the extent of leak, to contain it and
repair the pipeline. The ONGC and the Coast Guard are implementing an oil
spill contingency plan to minimise damage to the environment.
“The Regional Contingency Plan, which is the existing emergency response
measure, has been activated immediately on detection of the leak,” the
statement said.
Expressing concern at the impact on the local eco-system, Greenpeace called
for tighter regulation of oil infrastructure and transport.
MUMBAI OIL SPILL/ MV MSC CHITRA AND
MV KHALIJIA 3

The 2010 Mumbai oil spill occurred after the Panama-flagged MV MSC

Chitra (IMO: 7814838) and MV Khalijia 3 (IMO: 8128690) collided off the
coast of India near Mumbai on Saturday, 7 August 2010 at around 9:50 am
local time. MSC Chitra, which was outbound from South Mumbai's Nava
Sheva port, collided with the inbound Khalijia-III, which caused about 200
cargo containers from MSC Chitra to be thrown into the Arabian Sea. Khalijia-
III was apparently involved with another mishap on 18 July 2010.